From 20 October 2017, Fondazione Prada will present at its Milan venue a research and
information program on the Chicago art scene developed in the aftermath of World War II.
The Fondazione thus further expands its strategy of reinterpretation of those moments in
contemporary art history that, although not entirely acknowledged by critics, have nonetheless
influenced new generations of artists, from graffiti to neo–digital artists.

The project is focused on the employment of a painting style characterized by political commitment,
figurative narratives and radical graphics, and therefore rejected by mainstream New York
culture – which was more interested in the abstract and impersonal dimensions of art.

The exhibition is structured around three thematic sections conceived and curated by Germano Celant
as a whole – Leon Golub, H.C. Westermann and Famous Artists from Chicago. 1965–1975 – all devoted
to two generations of artists formed in Chicago between the 50's and the 60's. This project further
investigates the artistic production of those two decades in a location far from the main artistic
centers, from Paris to New York, and explores the development of alternative scenes generated in art
schools and academies, namely the School of Art Institute of Chicago, which critically competed or
opposed Minimal Art's industrial and essential approach.